• Preface


• Acknowledgements


• Abbreviations


• Chapter 1: Utopia


• Chapter 2: Internationalism


• Chapter 3: Technocracy


• Chapter 4: Conservation


• Chapter 5: Inscription


• Chapter 6: Conflict


• Chapter 7: Danger


• Chapter 8: Dystopia


• Bibliography

Lynn Meskell is Professor in the Department of Anthropology at Stanford University, and Honorary Professor in the School of Geography, Archaeology, and Environmental Studies at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. Her previous books include Private Life in New Kingdom Egypt, The Nature of Culture: The New South Africa, and, as editor, Global Heritage: A Reader.

A Future in Ruins is an eye-opening look at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Focusing on early luminaries like H.G. Wells, Aldous, and Julian Huxley, with their dystopian fears for the future, through to the devastation of ancient sites like Cuzco, Abu Simbel, the Bamiyan Valley, and Palmyra, the book traces how, from 1945 to the present, cultural heritage has been a vital part of the elusive hope for a better world.